


From Marine to Pirate King

by DeedeeWrites



Series: Who We Were Meant To Be - AU [6]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Epilogue, Former Marine Luffy, Friendship, Humor, One Shot Collection, Pirate King Monkey D. Luffy, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-10-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:54:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24109309
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeedeeWrites/pseuds/DeedeeWrites
Summary: He leaves the newspaper, Straw Hat Luffy's face grinning up at him. "Well Garp, your grandson's done it now." Sengoku murmurs.orCollection of Epilogues for the WWW Universe
Series: Who We Were Meant To Be - AU [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1707700
Comments: 80
Kudos: 268





	1. Sengoku

**Author's Note:**

> Hello guys <3
> 
> This story updates sporadically, specially because some of what I have written is spoiler for WoSA but I do have several one-shots in the work. If there's anyone in particular whose reaction you'd like to see, leave your request in the comments :)
> 
> Obviously, don't read this without reading WWW or being up-to-date with WoSA and Gut Instinct, you'll be spoiled. 
> 
> Much love guys <3

No one will find on record that 5 years ago, Garp the Fist quit his post as Vice-Admiral before the biggest marine-pirate conflict in history, only to show up during the Paramount War with a score of Revolutionaries in tow, fully intending to fight against his former colleagues. Not even the people in attendance will tell you that the legend went down by a beam of light, too fast for the eye to catch, or that he crumpled as a significant part of his chest was immediately vaporized. Even those who were there might not remember a rapidly fading voice sharing the last truths to two brats who've turned the entire world on its head.

Sengoku doesn't need to read it, or for anybody to tell him or even try to recall the memory too hard. He was right there when Garp died, and he'd stood by. (It doesn't matter how objectively he knows there'd been nothing to be done except offer some respite, some respect for the last word of one of the greatest men he ever knew and two children the world had been out to get from the moment they were in the womb.) Because Sengoku's always been about too little, too late, Garp is never dishonorably discharged, and the former Fleet Admiral throws in every ounce of political power he's amassed in the previous fifteen years into branding Garp a hero for the history books. He's glad the brats take the body, explaining why he couldn't be buried in the marine's graveyard would've been difficult, but necessary. Everyone he cared about lives outside the law. (A tragedy in itself really.)

The grave, a gaudy white piece of marble isn't immaculate, but it's certainly taken-care off and Sengoku has no doubt it will be visited regularly for the coming weeks. Sengoku's not the only one who will stop by to deliver the news, but he does believe he's first. He briefly eyes the justice coat it wears, and knows by the color of the sleeves that it is not Garp's but Luffy's and he wonders how it got here. Sengoku brings a packet of his favorite crackers -the ones he and Garp used to argue over- and a newspaper, one he had grumbled about. He deposits the bundled papers on the ground, Straw Hat Luffy's face grinning broadly on the cover, and Sengoku feels regret.

He'd known, always, that the decisions he's taken would come back to haunt him but everything else, as much as it pains him, and as much as it says about him, pales in comparison to the tragedy of Garp's progeny.

"Well Garp, your grandson's done it now." Sengoku's sure he knows. Garp always knew. How many times has Sengoku uttered those exact words when it comes to talking about Monkey D. Luffy? He'd known they'd been fighting the inevitable.

STRAW HAT LUFFY CLAIMS TITLE OF PIRATE KING!


	2. Vivi

Queen Nefertari Vivi's travels with the former marines, now known as the Straw Hat Pirates, had ignited a fierce love for fairness and -dare she say it?- Justice in her. One she carries in her heart long after the people who taught her such truths are considered enemies of the ideals they once wielded. She had been proud and overjoyed that the Navy had such capable people amongst their ranks, men and women of honor carrying with them the resolution of making the world  _ better _ -and willing to die for it.

When Luffy's execution had been announced, the Kingdom of Alabasta had been in an uproar,  _ Vivi  _ had been in an uproar. Luffy is the most loyal, caring man the princess has ever run into, one who'd rather help Vivi, his friend, than Her Royal Highness, Princess Vivi of Alabasta. One who'd treated her as an equal and as someone worth fighting and worth fighting  _ for _ . When Vivi feels her kingdom is too much, when the death of her father weighs heavily on her shoulders and a lack of spouse to share the burden of the throne haunts the halls of her palace, she can still feel the sting in her cheek.

_ Aren't we friends?! _

Not a lot of marines think wise to punch a princess -in the face no less. Yet, there had been a small level of resentment in her when Luffy's wanted poster had come out.  _ Her friends? Pirates?  _ (Nico Robin sails with them too, something she's somewhat bitter about. Why couldn't  _ Vivi  _ go, or perhaps, a tiny corner whispers, why couldn't  _ he  _ stay?) Had the people she'd grown to care about allowed themselves to fall off the dangerous edge they'd walked on? Vivi's experience with marines before Luffy and his crew is limited. Still, even she could tell from the casuals forms of address and Mister Smoker's complaining that whatever a Commodore should look like, Monkey D. Luffy wasn't it.

The Straw Hat pirates visited Alabasta once, before finally setting out for Laugh Tale. It is the first time Vivi would ever see them after the events of Marineford. The Queen remembers the occasion well.

Much to her adviser's chagrin, Vivi is immediately alerted by their guards, all of them unsure how to proceed with the heroes turned criminals. Vivi, acting very much unbecoming of her station, had stormed out of the palace on Karoo; Kohza and Pell furious on her heels.

Their ship is different when they dock, the  _ Going Merry  _ now only alive in their memories, and it's the first bittersweet thing about the encounter. 

Nami's the first person off the boat, and Vivi takes her old friend in, wondering if she carries the scars from when she'd kicked spikes to save Vivi's country even now. The navigator is smiling widely, freely, and just as caring and loving as the last time she'd held Vivi -when she'd been crying over Luffy's sickbed.

"Vivi!" Vivi's not sure why she's raced to the docks, to demand answers? Kick them out? Defend her country from pirates? Whatever it is, she forgets because suddenly she's embracing Nami and trying not to drown under the weight of how much she's missed her. The woman's taller than she remembers, but then again, so is Vivi herself. Her tangerine locks curl down her back.

"Aha! Vivi!" It's Luffy's voice, and as Vivi lays eyes on him, his grin just as soft and cheery as it is in his wanted poster, she wonders how she could ever think that the world could change this man. (When Luffy's a man meant to change the world.) He pries Nami from her, the woman squawking in indignation, before quickly enveloping Vivi in a hug. Vivi catches the scar on his collarbone, almost concaved where something ate away a piece of him, and hugs him back, glad that he's alive.

Behind her, Kohza chokes, and Pell whispers heated reprimands, but Vivi's Queen now and correcting her actions is almost treason (a fact she rarely has the opportunity to enjoy but is certainly coming in handy when wanting to fraternize with wanted criminals). She steps back from the embrace, reliable and warm, to give the Pirate Captain another look. There's something off though, Vivi scans Luffy's face again.

"You feeling okay, Vivi?" Chopper asks, meeting her gaze over Luffy's shoulder, he looks like a real reindeer now, she thinks.

"Chopper!" Vivi smiles at the doctor, and as Luffy laughs, throwing his head back, it comes to her. "You're tattoos gone!" She suddenly exclaims, because where there once had been a single, inky black line now, there's nothing but a thin white scar. Around her, the crew members, who'd been steadily exiting the vessel in their usual flashiness, seem to freeze up. Vivi sends questioning eyes when Chopper immediately averts her eyes, and Nami follows. Luffy doesn't miss a beat, though, a mild frown on his face.

"Ah, that was actually-" He starts.

"Luffy." Luffy's mouth closes shut. It's Nico Robin's slender form that steps in. Something in Vivi twists a little, but this smiling woman looks nothing like the Baroque Works agent she'd come to know. She seems...  _ younger,  _ definitely lighter, and unquestionably happier. There is no regret nor apologies in her eyes when she greets Vivi.

"Your majesty." She nods her head, it's a mockery of a bow and yet comes off incredibly elegant. Then again, this woman is a pirate, isn't she? (And Vivi hasn't forgotten that despite their animosity, she'd saved Luffy's life).

"Don't be throwing that around, idiot." A deep voice echoes behind them. Zoro has gotten big, Vivi realizes, as the swordsman approaches from the ship. The man had always packed muscle, easily the physically strongest in the little ragtag crew she'd sailed with, but now, he's broad in ways that adolescence would've never allowed. (Vivi's already phrasing a very polite way to ask about his eye.) He reaches their little bubble. "It's good to see you too, princess."

"Oi, moss head! Miss Vivi is a queen now!" Sanji is soon dancing behind him, before turning to Vivi and her 'ever-growing beauty.' "Miss Vivi!"

Well, she laughs, it's good to see that some things don't change. Meanwhile, she barely recognizes Usopp when he greets her, he's definitely the one who's changed the most out of all them. He carries himself with quite a confidence. Even with all the commotion and the new members, a cyborg that Usopp introduces with starry eyes and a skeleton that Vivi greets with an entire life of diplomatic manners beaten into her, there's one person she's still looking for -no matter how much she tells herself she isn't.

When her eyes land on Coby, recognizing him by a distinctive hair of pink hair, round blue glasses, and little else, her heart seizes for a moment. Then, it's trying to beat itself out of her chest. Even with the jacket and a long white overcoat, he's still slim, and Vivi can tell he's grown beyond the boy she'd met. Where Luffy was strong and reckless, Coby was kind and brave; he'd been a balm on Vivi's soul when the dessert had threatened to ruin her and her people.

For the coming years, his letters were a source of strength for a princess spread too thin, two young people trying to find the path to being strong in a world that gives no second chances. This is the first time she would speak to him since Coby, and the crew parted ways from the marines, branded traitors years ago.

_ Even if I don't get to see it, Vivi, know that in my heart, there has never been any doubt... you will be the kindest and strongest Queen your kingdom has ever known. _

Coby's expression is just as bedazzled, and just as unsure. Even with the riot and the cheer surrounding them, Vivi feels like the world stops a little when their eyes meet. She should know better, Vivi's not a child but... She's heard the stories about him. She's never seen the coat he wears, worryingly similar to a marine's official, but she knows there's a writing on his back, a bold pink kanji for 'freedom.' He's dazzlingly handsome now, has been since his wanted poster came out, but Vivi's been in love with him for a lot longer than that.

As he descends down the plank, her training fails her, and she's not sure how to react. She's thankful to notice that Kohza and Pell have begun taking the rest of the Straw Hats to the palace, she turns to follow as Coby falls in step with her. They're just about the same height, though Vivi's wearing heels.

For the first few streets, they walk in silence. Vivi takes the opportunity to smile and wave to the passerby's who greet her. Many of them recognize the Straw Hats, but just as many don't. Luffy's hat, though, is unmistakable to anyone who reads the news. Vivi wonders where it came from, but is quickly distracted from the inquest by the wide berth some citizens give their entourage. The pirates don't seem to notice, but Vivi's heart breaks a little. Coby's presence is hesitant, his expression has been mildly concerned since he saw her, but he smiles softly when she sends him a questioning glance. Clearly, she's going to have to take the initiative.

"Piracy?" She questions, trying for a lighthearted tone. Coby sighs next to her.

"Some days, I still cannot believe it, but... it's been, good." Then his posture straightens, and he looks at her when he apologizes. "I'm sorry... that I didn't write anymore, Vivi, leaving the marines was just... such a mess, and I didn't know what'd you'd think about it, and I guess I... was scared, of what you'd think of me." Whatever Vivi was going to tell him, whatever cold shoulder she'd wanted to apply crumbles to dust in her tongue.

"Why did you leave?" She finally asks because that is the million berry question, isn't it? Coby had dreamt of being a marine his entire life, he'd refused to quit. So, why? (What was more critical than Vivi?)

"There was too much at stake." And his eyes are hard when he says so, and Vivi wonders if she knows him anymore. It's been 3 long years since Marineford.

"When Luffy and everyone's bounties came, yours didn't, and I..." Vivi had wished, wished that it meant something for them. Then she got his last letter, the pages saying too much and yet explaining too little. "'Twin Blades' Koby."

"I'm not particularly attached to the name if I'm honest." He tells her as he scratches his head in a sheepish gesture that the hardship of the sea has failed to erase. Before she knows it, they're at the palace, and their conversation is over.

The Straw Hats are taken to their rooms. 'We're only staying for the night,' Luffy commands them. A surprisingly wise choice, considering Vivi is sure rumor is already spreading about their presence. Coby disappears in between the flurry of movement and her need to attend her skirted duties. She doesn't meet the Straw Hats until dinner, and Coby doesn't sit by her side, but Nami and his captain do. Vivi enjoys herself, thoroughly entertained by their stories, and doesn't ask about the lack of tattoo or Zoro's eye or the skeleton, the Queen most avidly avoiding  _ that  _ topic. She does ask what's next.

"We come from Reverse Mountain," Nami tells her, "we've been in East Blue, visiting our homes. It's been 10 years since we've been back, but considering our destination, it was fitting."

"Oh, and where are you going?"

"Laugh Tale," Luffy says, setting down his sixth or seventh plate of food. He takes a swing from his mug and smiles deviously as he sets it down. "That's the only way to become Pirate King."

"Pirate... King?" Vivi feels her head swimming, this she had definitely not been expecting.

"Shishishishi!"

"Yeah!" Usopp jumps in next to Nami. "It's weird, Luffy yells it out so much now, it's hard to believe he ever kept quiet about it!" The sharpshooter exclaims. The table soon falls in chaos regarding Luffy's dreams and the crew's future plan, re-sailing the Grand Line all the way to the end... or die trying. It makes Vivi a little sick, but she tries to laugh it off all the same. (She burns this precious moment in her memory, wondering if she'll ever see her friends again).

Coby finds her after dinner, as Vivi's dismissed her servants on the way to her chambers. It's late, significantly later than the hour she usually turns in, but even now, she hears the ongoing merrymaking taking place downstairs.

"A queen cannot be alone with men without a chaperone." It's true, but Vivi's mostly teasing. A mistake, if the way the air tenses around them is any indication.

"Good thing I'm already a wanted man, then." His words are confident, but Vivi catches the wide-open vulnerability in his eyes. She can't tell really well in the unlit hallway, but she thinks she catches him flushing.

"Are you really traveling to Laugh Tale?" Coby's eyes shine, and he smiles at her. Vivi had never pegged him as someone fond of adventure, maybe this is why... but she's misread him because he steps towards her and makes her a promise.

"I'll definitely be back, Vivi." His expression is earnest, and something twists itself in her belly, love, or fear of a promise she's not sure he can keep? "I was speaking to Kohza at dinner... You really are the kindest and strongest Queen this country has ever seen." His voice is sweet, and his words evoke a longing that has made a home in her for years. It's impossible to not let him kiss her.

The moment is a humming that she can feel from deep within her, like the end of a season. (It's about time.) It's a simple press of the lips before she realizes that his hands have come up to cup her face while her own are fisted in his jacket, Coby stops.

"Vivi, you deserve better than a petty criminal, but..." Vivi thinks there's no way possible for anyone in the seas to call Luffy's crew petty criminals, but she knows what he means, and this is what she's most disliked about Coby since they'd met. According to him, he's never good enough for her. (For all that most of their relationships has been through letters, there had never been that many words involved). "But, after this trip, if you would let me, I... have a standing offer for a Warlord position." The words come out whispered and rushed. "I talked to Luffy about it, and..."

"You'd leave the crew?"

"Most of us have been offered at some point or another. With our history, after what the Navy did to Luffy..."

"What happened to Luffy?" Coby flinches back, and the weight on his shoulders is palpable.

"I'll... tell you another time, I promise, but right now, Vivi, I... would like to come back here, when everything's done. I don't want to pressure you into anything, I know it's been a long time, I know it's presumptuous of me, I keep asking myself what am I thinking, right? You've made an incredible life for yourself, your father passed, and you became  _ Queen,  _ and I was halfway across the world, fighting a bunch of candy named children, but I just needed to tell you this: if you want to, if you'd let me... I know these are just words but-"

"Sometimes, your words were the only true thing I had." Vivi interrupts him.

This time, she kisses him, and it goes on and on well into the night. When Coby and the Straw Hats leave, she doesn't feel sadness, only yearning. (She'd like to see Laugh Tale too.) After this, though, she's sure she won't even have time to miss them.

Vivi waits for the newspaper article, she knows it's coming.

When the news break, she smiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, 
> 
> remember that you can check out sneak peeks and such on my twitter (@slim_deedee_) and my tumblr (deedee-writes)!
> 
> Also, what did you think of the pairing? I was a little surprised by it when it suddenly appeared hahahah but I've ended up liking it, we'll see a little of it in WoSA but I'm seriously considering wirting something for it by itself. Let me know what you think!


	3. Magellan

Magellan hasn't sat down for tea time in a really long time, so it's quite interesting to share the long-forgotten habit with Admiral Shirokuma. The man has gotten broader through the years, but his detestable smoking habit is persistent, no matter how long it has been since the former Vice-Admiral visited Impel Down. A newspaper lays face down on the table, a flimsy disguise to what has brought the two government officials together. The Warden and the Admiral have very little in common, but they've never lost the shared fondness for one singularity of a man.

"Sometimes, I feel foolish for not having asked the complete story; the official statement that he was an undercover revolutionary agent all along is only valid if you've never met him." Magellan thinks about Monkey D. Luffy's many raids on the Impel Down kitchen and his subsequent abysmal attempts at denying his guilt. "The Vice-Admiral couldn't lie to save his life."

"That idiot would die if he hears you're still calling him that," his companion grumbles.

"Maybe." The Vice-Admiral had never been a fan of titles.

"He's been a pirate for a long time now."

"Not longer than he was a marine." Magellan muses out loud. "And yet..." His eyes drift to the newspaper.

"Shows you what motivation can do."

"This is going to change everything," the Warden sighs.

"Tcht." The Admiral turns away to blow a long trail of smoke away from them. "I hear that every time his bounty increase."

"They say he's going after the last Emperor of the Old Era."

"To befriend him, maybe." Shirokuma scoffs, and then he settles hard eyes on the Prison Warden, a grey beard has been kept for years now, a reminder that the marine before him is very different from the young man Magellan met so many years ago. "Why did you ask me here? I didn't know you were fond of tea."

"Nostalgia perhaps," Magellan answers, thinking of the day Luffy was admitted. His Justice coat was taken when he was brought in, Sadie had taken it to his office with the news of their latest prisoner.

Magellan kept it for a long time in a closed drawer. At first, maybe a part of him thought the Vice-Admiral would eventually come back for it -despite how he was sentenced to death. Then, it became about what to do with it. (It'd been long enough that it was awkward to ask for proper procedure and throwing it away didn't sit right with him.) He eventually took a trip to Garp's grave in a rare off day, the man sitting across from him helped him with the location. It seemed fitting to lay such an essential piece of history lay with the man who had shaped him, a marine becoming a successful, era-changing pirate. Magellan had looked up to Garp the Fist his entire youth, that's the type of man he'd like to believe the navy is made of. "Don't they have tea time all the time at HQ?"

Shirokuma barks out a laugh, the sound sharp as it splinters the space between them.

"Straw Hat certainly tried to make it so, if only so that the cooks would make food for him in between lunch and dinner." The Admiral tells him, annoyance seeping into his tone. He's never as animated as when Monkey D. Luffy is involved, it's almost like the pirate chips away at the tight control of the Admiral without any effort. "He was stealing the strategy from Garp, but the habit... died out."

"Was that a pun?" His lips pull up into a smile of no cheer.

"Oh, no, that's it," the man rolls his eyes, "I'm leaving." Despite Shirokuma's ill-temper, the teapot is empty and all the scones are gone. It's time to end their little reverie anyways.

"Back to HQ?"

"The New World," he corrects immediately, " _ someone  _ needs to keep that idiot in check." The Admiral puts on his gloves and picks up his jute. Pausing before reaching the door. "Trust me, you can have him for tea when I'm done." This time, the small smile in the Warden's lips is real, if even creepier because of that.

"You've been saying that for years," he replies neutrally, no condemnation nor challenge, just a statement.

"And I'll keep saying it until he's reacquainted with the same dark cell I should've left him in."

Magellan doubts it. Monkey D. Luffy has never been meant for anything that ties him down, he knows that now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYSSSS,
> 
> I wrote another story for the WWW, it's a one-shot detailing Zoro and Tashigi's relationship in this universe. It's finished and its been currently beta'd but it should be up tonight!!
> 
> Here's a snippet for it!
> 
> [Meant To Be](https://deedee-writes.tumblr.com/post/619273460012679168/meant-to-be-teaser-zoroxtashigi)  
> Also, feel free to stop by for a chat:
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Slim_Deedee_)  
> [Tumblr](https://deedee-writes.tumblr.com/)
> 
> much love,   
> dee


	4. Aokiji

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Slim_Deedee_)   
>  [Tumblr](https://deedee-writes.tumblr.com/)

Monkey D. Luffy hadn't really called Aokiji's attention as an individual at first. His progeny was inconsequential, his grandfather was just a relation, and the kid's wish to be Pirate King was silly at best.  _ That shrimp? _ Aokiji had thought. The collar said more about the Navy than it did about him, and his deal seemed more like foolish, pre-teen naivety than conscious sacrifice. Aokiji saw him, wearing a straw hat and picking his nose as he climbed down the galleon, arriving at headquarters for the first time and had been decidedly unimpressed.

He barely spared him a thought.

Then, Akainu took him on as his apprentice.

_ Magma-sensei asks if you're doing your job... He says you slack off all the time, and sometimes people have to remind you, so I'm here. Ah crap, he also told me not to tell you that, please forget it. _

Aokiji hadn't believed it. Sakazuki willingly taking on a student? Someone wanted Akainu to be their  _ teacher? _ He'd stared at the 14-year-old and tried to see how the least patient of his colleagues could deal with him several hours a day, everyday. It seemed nothing short of a miracle, so the Admiral started to pay attention.

There was a lot to see, Luffy was the little star of headquarters.

Most people had thought ill of him with his arrival. A child amid the Navy's most potent institution. Luffy was loud, brash and prone to bouts of absolute nonsense such as raiding the kitchen or stowing away on ships, forcing several to turn back to return him. The child was like a ball of chaotic energy, not yet tempered or trained by the collar he'd volunteer to wear -it was like a storm had taken over Aokiji's offices.

One would think Luffy would be despised or shunned, and at first, he was. Yet, it was impossible to hold ongoing animosity towards a person who seemed unfamiliar with the concept of being disliked. Luffy was always smiling and cheery and helpful, he was honest and straightforward and a very hard worker for all that he slacked off on his paperwork. Slowly, and surely, he started getting along with his peers. It didn't matter who was mean or rude to him, it would slip off Luffy as if he was impervious to such attitudes, almost like he had experience in it.

His upwards climb with the ranks caught the now Fleet Admiral by surprise, but it wasn't unheard of, even if Luffy's track record was the fastest promotion in Navy history. It was what he'd do later which would cement in Aokiji's mind that there is something otherworldly about Monkey D. Luffy -long before he'd make good on his promise to become Pirate King. (Even now,  _ that shrimp? Really?) _

Luffy had done what Aokiji thought impossible and freed Nico Robin. Aokiji remembers congratulating Akainu on Luffy's promotion and meaning it because clearly, the man had done  _ something right. _ Even if it was only failing to curve Luffy's ability to just get whatever he wanted by bending the rules as far as they went... well, everything except being a pirate. (Though in the end, he did get that too.)

"Ararara, this is going to be troublesome."

"If you mean it might get you fired," Borsalino answers, tired. "It's not in the news yet."

"I think it was always fate's decree," Fujitora throws in. Aokiji's never really figured out what the other man's obsession with fate comes from or why, but maybe in this, he can agree.

"Wheres Smoker?" he asks because he considers himself a relatively relaxed man, but it's the wrong day for the missing Admiral to skimp out on a meeting.

"He left this morning."

"Ohhh, and where could he go on such a grim day?" Borsalino muses, but the look he throws at Kuzan is easy enough to read. Kizaru has never been a fan of Smoker, who can now add to his record having sailed with the man who's become Pirate King.

"Do we really believe he considers it grim? He's been after Straw Hat forever, didn't they once sailed on the same ship?" Fujitora adds, face tilted towards the breeze. Kuzan really likes his office, doors open to greet the sea. It's about one of the only things he likes about this job.

"From where I'm sitting, all three of you have been equally unsuccessful," Kuzan intervenes. Whatever Smoker's relationship with Straw Hat Luffy, he's a damn good marine, the only one of his Admiral's to follow Kuzan's own Moral Justice -though Izou's is good enough for him as well. Borsalino, on the other hand... Kuzan looks at the older man, sunglasses unable to conceal the massive scar crossing his face. A slash wound that continues down to his sternum from his hairline. In his last encounter with the Straw Hats, Roronoa Zoro had almost killed him.

"Now he knows the secrets the World Government has been trying to keep, he really is a man who should've been executed that day..." the Admiral muses, bitterness shining through the cracks in his facade. He is genuinely worried, Kuzan knows. This situation is a mess, not even the men in this room, called the Marines Greatest Military Power, understand what is hiding at Laugh Tale, but once more, a pirate does. "What do you think he will do with it?"

"It's senseless trying to predict 'Straw Hat' Luff," Fujitora scoffs.

"I do want to know why our patrols didn't alert us he was moving. I thought the perimeter towards that part of the Grand Line was significantly guarded, and it's not like we didn't know he was coming," Borsalino states.

"He does yell about being Pirate King a lot, doesn't he?" Fujitora says, voice amused but expression neutral.

"I thought he'd been, ah,  _ trained out _ of that habit."  _ I'm sure you'd think so,  _ Aokiji thinks bitterly. Out of those who'd had access to the collar's trigger, Kuzan's use of it was liberal on the best of days. The only thing Kuzan and Sakazuki had ever agreed on was their abhorrence at the measures taken around Luffy and that damn collar. Aokiji thinks it's that cruelty that was their downfall in the Paramount War, he likes to think it's hard to lose when you're fighting for what's right.

He wonders what Sakazuki thinks now of his wayward pupil. He hasn't' seen the former marine since Punk Hazard, steaming and burning and  _ losing.  _ Aokiji had never really thought he'd win. Something had been off with his fellow marine since Marineford and its subsequent cover-up, without bringing in to it Whitebeard's devastating blow. It'd shattered the Admiral's entire ribcage, and he'd refused to wait for them to be completely healed before fighting for the position of Fleet Admiral. Not that the battle was easy, Aokiji did lose a leg.

"I want to interview everyone who sailed with Straw Hat, we might get an inkling of what he'll do next," the Admiral orders, "I'll handle the interviews." He looks at his office. "Get Commodore Helmeppo here to assist, and someone locate Smoker and tell him I want him at the base, ASAP." He looks out to sea, where somewhere, Straw Hat's ship sails, having turned the world on its axis once more. "And... call a Press Conference too. We need to give answers before there are too many questions."

Not that he thinks it'll really soften the blow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I updating basically all my stories today? I shall try!!
> 
> Just in case you missed them, I uploaded three oneshots this week! 
> 
> [A Place to Rest:](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24412024)  
> Marco told Izou that Luffy gave him a feeling of peace. What the hell had Marco been thinking? [Sequel to Luffy's Mystery Bird.] MaLu. Slash.
> 
> [Meant To Be:](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24411916)  
> She only thinks so in hindsight, but maybe, she falls in love with him right then and there. [Side story to Who We Were Meant To Be] Zoro x Tashigi
> 
> [A Man Worth Dying For:](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24433459)  
> Fix him, he says. Law chuckles darkly. "Roronoa-ya…" The surgeon hates how weak his voice sounds. "I'm afraid that if we move Luffy-ya too much, brain matter is going to fall out of his skull." [Complete] LawLu. Slash.
> 
> much love,
> 
> dee


	5. Dragon

"Dragon!" Ivankov, as always, is loud.

Dragon sighs into his coffee, his morning has been so unruly today.

The most wanted man in the world doesn't take breaks often, there's always so much to do and so little time, but breakfast is the most essential part of the day. The Revolutionary Leader does his best to always set a couple of minutes to sit down and have a meal. Getting away for lunch or dinner is significantly more impossible, meetings and plans, and calls sometimes crawling late into the night. (The pursuit of freedom and liberty does not allow for a predictable 9 to 5). By now, his subordinates know to leave him alone to his little terrace in the early mornings, but Ivankov has never really played by any rules, unwritten or not.

Dragon appreciates his friend. He just really likes his allotted ten-minutes of silence, too, and this morning he has been interrupted once already.

The Okama King is heard long before he stands in front of Dragon, coming to a skidding halt opposite the thin, round coffee table were a coffee mug and an absurd amount of food are piled. Toasts and cheese and all sorts of meaty fillings share the limited amounts of space. There's a bowl of cereal, half of a frittata, and several different types of fruit. Perhaps, he's missed some of his father's flashiest characteristics, but in this, the Monkey men stand united: an inhumane appetite that often threatens to eat the world whole in one brutal bite.

"Ivankov," Dragon greets, patiently waiting for Ivankov's expected commenting on his eating habits, but it seems like the ruler of the Kamabakka Kingdom has another thing on his mind. He stands there, leotard, fishnets, and wild, curly purple hair looking very smug. He doesn't look like a revolutionary at all, which is what Dragon loves about their cause. No one "looks" like a revolutionary because there is no such thing, _everyone_ can be one.

"Did you see the news?" he smirks, showing a newspaper clutched tightly in his hands. _Ah,_ Dragon understands, _this again._

"Sabo passed by yes," he informs raising his mug to his lips, he frowns briefly. His coffee has gone lukewarm.

"How can you be so calm?" the Okama demands, jaw hanging open at his nonchalant reception, "Your son is the Pirate King! Your kid! The _Pirate King!_ "

 _Is he_ my _kid?_

Dragon has been tempted to ask about him. By now, Luffy's run into plenty of revolutionaries who can give Dragon insight as to who his blood and flesh has become. Dragon keeps up to date with the papers, and there's always been an undeserved sense of pride in Luffy's passionate actions and accomplishment. What is Dragon proud of? What right does he have to feel pride in the achievements of a man he abandoned as a babe?

Ivankov, Koala, Sabo... Dragon knows Luffy's heart from the legends he's helped make, but... Dragon wants to know what his son thinks _of him,_ specifically. And he's... never brought himself to ask, because it won't really change anything, will it?

"Wasn't he always saying he would do that?" honestly, everyone around here is so surprised.

"Well, yes, that's why..." the okama continues, spirit alight in absolute wonder and joy. His old friend isn't the first to bear witness to Luffy's charms, a very particular expression Dragon has only seen in a select number of people.

 _He could be a powerful ally._ Sabo had said.

 _He is._ Dragon had replied.

Luffy doesn't need Dragon to point out to him the injustices in the world to him or the need to work tirelessly to eradicate them. Somehow, without his help, his son does it spectacularly well already.

(The older man wants to think it's the little of him Luffy might carry into him.)

"Then why are all you people so surprised?" Ivankov opens his mouth to retort, eyes baffled but then seems to think better of it, shooting Dragon a speculative look. Eccentric and ostentatious, he might be, but the Okama King is a General of the Revolutionary Army for a reason. Dragon, though, does not shift under the scrutiny. "From what I understand, Luffy is the type of man to follow through what he says." (And there goes that undeserving pride.)

"Now that I think about it, you haven't met yet, have you?" It's not an accusation, but it feels like one all the same.

"I'm sure the winds will be in our favor soon enough." Dragon might just have to start taking a more proactive approach to make it happen. Maybe now that Luffy's main journey has reached its end, he can spare some time for an old man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the closure for WWW that I didn't know I needed lol


	6. Shakky and Rayleigh I

It's not often that Shakky wakes up to her husband, even at their age. The wanderlust in his veins has never left him, never dwindled away with the strength of his body or the recklessness of his soul. His presence in their bed has grown through the years, and Shakky has thoroughly enjoyed this process of getting old. He's peculiar and, at times, ridiculous, but Shakky loves Rayleigh and all the things he stands for. It doesn't stop her from being vaguely irritated when she wakes up alone. _That man can never stay still too long, can he?_

When she rolls over and sits up, though, she's a little surprised to see him sitting on the small sitting area across their bed. The room is in twilight, it must be morning already, but their curtains are drawn, the slivers of lights that peek through are almost incandescent in nature. As far away from the windows as possible, Rayleigh is surrounded by soft grey shadows. There's a candlelit up on the table, and it looks like it's been burning for some time. Shakky stretches, feeling how her shoulders never quiet _pop_ satisfactorily enough anymore. She blinks sleep from her eyes.

"Good morning." Rayleigh looks at her, and there's something in his eyes she almost doesn't recognize but knows who it's about. It's a shame she never met Gol D. Roger because she's never quite sure what to say when Rayleigh's thinking about him. The bar owner notices that he's drinking, which isn't necessarily rare other than it being so early in the morning, and the bottle that he's opened sits at the table. It's old, and Shakky doesn't think she's ever seen it before, even stranger because she runs a bar.

Rayleigh takes a long swing of his mug and smiles at her, eyes glimmering.

"Shakky, he's done it." At first, her brain is still too sleepy, even articulating a valid question about what they're supposed to be talking about. But Rayleigh's eyes are shining as he walks towards her, bottle and glass left forgotten at the table, and he sits opposite her on the bed, and he's more cheery that Shakky has seen him in a while, glowing really. He barks out laughter, but tears are prickling his eyes. "Luffy's made it to Laugh Tale."

That wakes her up.


End file.
